Just Open: Master, Surry Hills

"After we had finished work at Momofuku we'd always go out and eat Chinese food, so I thought 'you know - why not cook it?'" says John Javier, whose resume also lists Quay and Noma, in addition to Momofuku Seiobo.

"I want to provide a level of cooking at an accessible venue with affordable prices that still respects high quality ingredients."

Javier has opened Master with business partner Jarred Roker, owner of cafe 212 Blu in Newtown.

"I find some fine dining places a bit too stiff," says Javier. "I feel a bit too constricted and I wanted something casual for people to just enjoy themselves."

The philosophy behind Master is simple, delicious cooking, with most dishes composed of only three ingredients.

"Simplicity is sometimes better," says Javier. "What we can do is take a creative approach to how we cook – turn a simple ingredient, apply a few things to it and make a great dish."

Javier is most excited about serving up a dish of roasted cabbage cooked over fire until it gets a black crust and is then quartered and napped with fish sauce butter.

Other dishes include shaved squid with snow pea sprouts and squid broth, cuttlefish silks with almond milk and coriander oil, salt and pepper veal sweetbreads, and raw clams with pickled honeydew melon, smoked bonito mayonnaise, burnt cucumbers and trout roe.

368 Crown St Surry Hills, masterdining.com.au, Tuesday to Sunday, 6pm – 10pm.